Burns, lines and teeshirts
by jasmin flower
Summary: After an odd day at work, and a random discovery bout Ren, Kyouko stays the night at his place to practice lines, and make him eat!  but nothing works out.


Alright! I have like four fanfics I'm in the process of writing, but I'm just not in the mood to write in them right now, so I'm doing this!

Starting to think I have way to many ideas, and not enough brain power to properly show them all.

Anywho, On with the show!

Disclaimer-I do not own this whatsoever. No, but instead, for the next few minutes, I own your attention! Don't worry! After you're done reading, I'll give it back! Yay!

**Chapter all?**

Tsugura Ren glared. He wasn't used to it, but he did it anyway. He actually didn't have much of a choice, seeing the girl behind him stumble over her shoes, tripping over a doll and finally catching her before she fell from the banister due to someone mistaking her uniform. AGAIN.

He looked down at her and she looked up at him, her eyes wide for a moment before finally glaring back and turning her back to him. He sighed as he turned, doing his best to keep from rolling his eyes.

"Can you please try and act like you belong here?" He mumbled and her eyes flashed to his, fire shining brightly. Before she could say a word he continued. "I don't need to have to go out and get you from the fans outside. It would be a lot of trouble if they threw you out after I got on set."

"Hai." She looked down, a strong mix of anxiety and fury. Ren could only smile at her, making sure she didn't see it.

He was only a few steps away when something flew past, smacking him in the back of the head. He turned, angry at first, then noticed Kyouko gripped to her head. He frowned, noticed the blur before him and realized, reaching up and covered his eye. "Uh..." He looked down, looking around, desperate to see the little disc before anyone else.

"Are you alright?" He heard and looked down, Kyouko's eyes on his.

"I lost my contact." He frowned, looking around with his one visible eye. He dropped to his knee and continued the search, surprised when she bent down, looking around as well.

"Which way were you facing?" She asked and he realized he'd been facing the other way. He turned and looked around, watching as Kyouko carefully came up beside him, making sure not to step on the little piece of plastic.

"I found... Oh, never mind." She frowned and he looked at her, wide eyed.

"You found it." He looked at the small disc on her finger and she frowned.

"But it's a color contact. I didn't even know you wore them." She looked at him, curious as he reached out and took the thing, frowning as he stood, stumbling.

Without the use of one eye his depth perception was totally shot and Kyouko held out her hand, taking his shoulder and lead him to the dressing room which they'd just come from.

She was surprised to see him reach into one of the side pouches of the bag he carried and pulled out a bottle of saline and the little contact containers. She was even more surprised to see him pull out a little glass tube and yanked it open, frowning as the key came off and the bottle was still closed.

"Dammit..." He frowned and Kyouko came up and took the bottle. She held it against the counter and brought her hand down against it hard, causing Ren to keep in a scream. She yanked off the little metal strip and handed it to him. She watched as he reached down from his eye, not thinking about it and took the bottle.

He'd admit that he was shocked, worried that such a smack would shatter the vial.

She looked up at him and her eyes widened as she stared and Ren realized his mistake.

"Blue?" Ren frowned and looked at the mirror, sliding the brown disc right into place.

"Please keep this a secret."

"You know I know better than to say these kinds of things. I'm curious though. Why are your eyes blue?"

"I got them from my father." He frowned, blinking, the disc finally settling into place. He uncorked the saline and poured it into the open contact container onto the contact that now sat alone in the container.

"So... is that your original hair color?"

"Yes." He frowned and Kyouko looked at him, her eyes squinting.

"You lie."

"Do not."

"You lie."

"Do not."

"What is your original hair color?" she smiled and Ren looked at her, his eyes narrowing at her, doing his best to keep from screaming.

"Bald."

"WHAT?" She jumped back, about to cry when she noticed the amused smirk at the corner of his mouth. "You lie."

"Of course." He grinned and walked passed, his smirk turning to a smile and Kyouko's gritted teeth eased up, turning to a sad frown.

It was the end of the day, Kyouko was standing in the kitchen, making dinner as Ren had forgotten to eat dinner. She listened as he recited his lines, then grinned as she repeated the opposing lines.

Not that she had memorized them for his sake, instead he was citing from the scenes he shared with her. Actually saying them to him, the tones he used that differed each time he said them, she realized why so many actors turned to this for remembering the words. Not to help with the words themselves, but to help with the sounds, the tones you use if someone says the line differently.

She caught herself giggling at one of the more angry scenes and the living room went silent. She turned and saw Ren, his arm leaning against the door frame, his eyes showing annoyance and she shrugged.

"I'm sorry. It's hard to concentrate and make sure things don't burn at the same time." She grinned and Ren sighed, realizing she wasn't used to so much multitasking, as she was also looking over her science book at the same time.

"You should have told me you were studying for school." He frowned and his eyes softened. "You're trying so hard to do everything."

"I have to." She frowned, taking a spoon and going to stir the pot. She hadn't placed it right, though, and the soup spilled, dribbling down the spoon onto her hand.

She bit her lip to keep from screaming, surprised when in just a second her hand was tightly gripped and suddenly cooled. She looked up, the cloth from the back of Ren's shirt in front of her face, his eyes wide, scared as the water cooled the area. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know..." She was shocked, more at Ren's quick actions than the actual burn, but she started to panic as she saw the look in Ren's eyes.

He wasn't happy at all.

"That's a deep burn. Maybe I should take you to the hospital..."

"Don't bother. I'll just bandage it." She sighed as she looked down, trying to remember how much money was in her wallet.

"I'll get it for you." Ren sighed as he turned to her, releasing her wrist. She watched as he kept her hand in the sink as he turned and walked away. She sighed as she leaned forwards, finally getting a look at the injury.

"Oh, hell..." She stared, her jaw trying not to unhinge itself from the rest of her head. It was between the first knuckle on her pointer finger to her knuckle on her thumb. It looked like there had been a blister, but it had already popped.

Did that mean there was muscle damage?

She tried to remember when Ren came out and noticed the look on her face. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"

"I'm sure." She sighed and turned to him, looking over the supplies he brought.

She looked up at him while he laid the things on the table. She walked over and sighed, taking the aloe and holding her breath as she smoothed the cotton ball over the area.

It didn't hurt as bad as she thought it would.

She sighed with relief as she continued, not noticing the way Ren never moved his eyes from her.

Next was the antibiotic ointment, which did burn, but she was able to get through it somehow. She grabbed the gauze pads and tape and started trying to awkwardly cover the wound. Ren sighed and took the tape from her, looking into her eyes. "Hold the pad still." He said in a whisper and Kyouko nodded, carefully placing the pad. Ren was very careful not to hurt her and was able to nicely cover the area. She was reaching for the gauze wrapping when Ren grabbed it first.

"There's no way you'd be able to do this on your own." She nodded and held out her hand as he carefully began wrapping the wound.

Kyouko watched as he fumbled a little, but was able to successfully wrap the appendage.

"Let's go out for dinner. You can't cook like this."

"But we can't keep practicing our lines if we're in a public place." She frowned and Ren sighed, looking over at the items on the verge of flames on his stove. He'd forgotten to turn them off.

He grabbed a potholder and threw all the burned pots and pans into the sink, but he had a feeling he'd have to just throw them out and get new ones.

He grabbed more and began looking through his fridge and the items that were left and throwing ideas together.

He was able to make dinner and brought it over to Kyouko, the whole time reciting his lines, watching when Kyouko had grabbed her science book and got back to her studying. She didn't notice how his eyes softened at her. He didn't see the smile he couldn't break from the corner of his mouth.

They ate, continuing the practice, but Ren noticed she put the school book away.

He noticed how she seemed sluggish after dinner and frowned. The food he'd made was too heavy and he was feeling tired himself. He looked over and smiled softly standing. "Go ahead and take a bath. You can spend the night here." He watched for a response and noticed she nodded slowly, stood and walked to the bathroom.

Ren knew he could just get a shower in the morning and went to his room, getting one of his tee shirts and knocked on the bathroom door, hearing her gasp on the other side when he opened the door. It was just a crack, enough to shove his arm through and put the shirt on the counter, even though, he kept his eyes closed. "I found a shirt you could wear to bed. I thought it might be more comfortable than your work cloths." He slid the door closed and immediately after heard her nearly mew the reply.

"Thank you."

He grinned as he walked to his room.

He woke early the next morning and was surprised to smell food cooking.

He walked out to see Kyouko, still wearing his tee shirt. It barely covered her underwear, which he could tell were the classic white. She turned and Ren realized she wasn't wearing a bra.

He held his hand over his face quickly, but was surprised when she turned to him, her rosy cheeks and wide eyes showing a smile. "Good morning! I was going to wake you after I was done with breakfast." She smiled and Ren could feel the liquid drip from his hand.

"Are you alright?" She asked, running over and Ren turned from her, knowing the red in his cheeks had to be nearly as red as the drops from his hand.

"I'm fine." He walked back to his room. He felt his heart throbbing in his chest, in his neck, and other places, causing a groan from the man. He couldn't go out for a few minutes, until this went down.

He laid on his bed, wiping the last of the blood from his nose when he heard a knock at the door.

"Yes?"

"Breakfast is..." He hadn't heard the door open. He just laid there, his eyes closed, the blood covered tissue in his hand, his pants a nowhere hear him.

"Uh..."

"Did you even think of what I would think when I went into the kitchen and saw you wearing that?" He sighed and she just stood there, her eyes wide.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry." He finally smiled, a dark look coming across his face. He heard her 'Eep!" from the doorway as he looked at her. The tee was loose, but it clung to her skin. He could see every little bit of her through the thin fabric. "You just made my whole week." He grinned and Kyouko just stared.

"You really... do love me, don't you?" The words were surprised, whispered from her lips, her wide eyes set on his.

"I do." Was his simple reply. She just stared for a moment before he stood and walked across the room, taking her into his arms.

Her first thought was to punch him in the face. To find some way to get away from him. But just before she could pull her hand back she felt him there, the warmth she felt from him and she stilled.

She knew she'd been trying her best to keep her heart locked against him, but she could feel it, those locks falling away, and her hand fell to her side. She couldn't hurt him.

She couldn't hurt him, but he could hurt her again.

"Please let me go..." She felt tears on her cheeks and an ache in her heart as he looked down, stepping away from her.

"Kyouko?"

"I'm sorry!" She gasped out, tears falling freely from her eyes.

"I tried to keep my heart locked against you!" She reached up, clinging her hands in front of her chest, sobs breaking free from her throat. "I hate this! I don't want to hurt anymore! You broke open my heart..." She sobbed again, missing the terrified look on his face, the pain that showed in his eyes.

"I can't hurt you anymore... I hate it! I can't hurt you, but you can hurt me..." Her hands covered her eyes and Ren realized and smiled, sitting beside her and wrapped his arms around her.

"That's not the way this works." He whispered into her ears and she stilled, terrified by the closeness she was almost enjoying just a moment ago. "I can hurt you, but you can hurt me too. As a matter of fact, you just did." He whispered into her ear and she stilled, turning to him confused.

"What?"

"When you told me to let go of you. I'd just finally gotten up the courage to tell you how I felt and you told me to let you go. You scared me, and hurt me. That's what it means to be in love, that you can be hurt by that person, more easily than anyone else. You're one of the few people that CAN hurt me." He grinned and Kyouko looked up at him, his soft eyes looking into hers.

"But with him... I could always be hurt, but he never was by me."

"That's because you loved him, but he didn't love you. He was harder to hurt because he's too stupid to realize how amazing you are." He smiled and Kyouko looked at him, shocked. "To allow someone into your heart, you do allow them the ability to hurt you, but you also give them the ability to show you more joy than anyone else. Being beside you for the last while, I'm always more happy around you than anyone else. That's also what this means." He smiled and she nodded.

It was such an easy explanation, something she felt like she should have known, but it didn't really dawn on her until he said it.

He was right.

He could love her, she could love him, and it could bring her more joy than she'd ever known. Not because he was a prince, not because he was famous, but because it wasn't just her. Her eyes lit up as it dawned on her for the first time in her life, that the reason her love always hurt was because it was always just her.

Her mother had never really loved her, Shotarou had never really loved her, but Ren...

"Do you really? Do you honestly, really love me?" She sobbed, a horrible ache in her heart throbbing.

"I do..." He watched, worried at her response to this.

She didn't even respond with words. She turned to him and threw her arms around him, sobbing uncontrollably as his arms surrounded her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, honestly worried about her at this point.

"I feel so stupid!" She sobbed out and he worried more. "How could I have not realized... How did I not know it was because it was just me? How could I not understand that I only loved them, that they didn't love me?" She sobbed and Ren's heart wrenched.

He hugged her close. He had a feeling that the other one was her mother, but decided not to say anything. He would just be here for her now. She needed it.

It was a good fifteen minutes til she was able to control her crying, and Ren watched as she pulled back away from him, wiping her eyes.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry." She murmured, feeling bad for putting him into that position.

"Don't be. I'm just glad I was able to be here for you." He smiled and she just looked up at him, taking in the honesty and awkward joy that seemed to shine from him.

She leaned back against him and just sat there for a bit, surprised when he just wrapped his arms around her.

He called off for the first time in forever. Not for the whole day, just for the first job of the day, which was going to be a storyboard meeting for a movie he wasn't even sure he wanted to be in.

He turned it down.

She frowned, feeling bad about this. He'd turned it down for her.

"We do have to go in today. I have two interviews later."

"I'm in one of them." She giggled and he smiled, nodding.

About Dark Moon. This was going to be interesting. Especially since the rest of the day she was acting as his manager again due to Yashiro getting on the wrong flight at the airport. Somehow he'd bought himself the wrong ticket and instead of Okinawa, he ended out in England.

He wouldn't be back til tomorrow.

They had gone through and had makeup put on and sat quietly on the set, watching as the talk show guy asked them random questions, coming up with the night's entertainment.

He seemed to have a spark of inspiration half way through the pre-interview and couldn't stop grinning til the camera was rolling.

"Today we have two of the stars of Dark Moon, Tsugura Ren and Mogami Kyouko!" He turned to them and they each greeted the host.

"I've noticed, you two seem really close! Is there some sort of spark between the two of you?"

"There is." Ren grinned bashfully, running his hand through his hair, partly trying to hide a blush. Kyouko looked down, blushing as well. This was awkward, and Ren had just said it on television.

"When did you two meet?" The host grinned, knowing this was the scoop of the last five years and was surprised to hear Ren's soft answer.

"When we were children." Ren looked over at Kyouko, catching the look of surprise in her eyes. "I convinced her I was a fairy. We used to play in a creek by where we lived." He smiled, taking in the look of surprise as it washed over her face.

"On the day I left, I gave her a stone, one that I used to calm my nerves when I was upset. I never would have known it was her if I didn't see her holding that stone a year ago."

"What?" Kyouko's eyes widened, realizing what he was really saying, the bits of it that she'd never told him. Like that it was a going away present, that they'd played at the creek. "It really is you..." Her eyes widened as she realized the similarities in their face, their voice, it was really him!

"Oh my god!" Her hands flew over her mouth and Ren smiled at her, holding his head down.

"I probably shouldn't have mentioned that on television, hn?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" She gasped as she ran over, throwing her arms around him.

"Because I couldn't find a good time." He grinned. "By the way, nice job acting as me that day. Totally caught me and my father off guard." He grinned and Kyouko realized what that had meant.

"That's why I did such a good job..." Her eyes widened and Ren nodded.

"But you were the one to realize that the description would best be done by my old self. You still did a magnificent job." He grinned and Kyouko grinned, nodding.

She returned to her seat and looked over, the host's eyes wide. She could have sworn she saw tears.

"Sorry! Was that too personal?"

"No! Not at all! It's just so nice to see you smiling like that. Many people have worried about you due to the fact that all of your smiles seem so faked. That was probably the most genuine smile I've ever seen!" He grinned and Kyouko looked up at Ren.

"Thank you!" She grabbed his hand and just looked into his eyes. "Thank you for coming back to me! Everyone who was important to me as a child left me alone, thank you for coming back!" She grinned and Ren smiled, grasping her hand and kissing the back softly.

"Anything for you, princess."


End file.
